City of Encinitas General Plan Update: HOME

So far, the proposed revisions appropriately continue the original General Plan's focus on neighborhood preservation and compatible development.

I my opinion, a 5-7 story mixed-use structure adjacent to detached single family homes to be neither "compatible," nor in keeping with existing "neighborhood preservation."

I want to go on record as stating that I oppose High Density Housing opportunities as outlined in Figure LU-11 in the Encinitas Blvd. / I-5 area. I find it hard to believe that without extreme and heroic reworking of the present circulation that any new intensification is possible.

The current intersections do not function and what would happen with new housing units staggers the mind. You guys are supposed to be professional planners, what solutions do you have in mind.

The document is chocked full of pretty pictures and wonderful goals, but very little in the way of solutions. It seems to be very heavy with what you would like to do, but pretty light on how you might accomplish it. My experience with the advisory committee was frightening when the facilitator was encouraging everyone to allow intersections to fail to a point of paralysis...now there's a good piece of planning for the future. Probably the most alarming realization was that no one on the advisory committee flinched.

Thanks.

I oppose the proposed plan for the El Camino Real Corridor. While this plan appears nice from a social engineering/feel good perspective, it is extremely poorly conceived from a quality of life perspective for current residents. The added density means additional strain on our already overcrowded schools, roadways, and city services. El Camino Real needs additional lanes not less. Reducing El Camino Real will cause people to detour to residential side streets to try to avoid the gridlock which then becomes a safety issue. Overcrowded schools and classrooms will impact the quality of education. Poorer quality education will have a significant negative impact on property values. Lower property values means even less revenue for the city which means less city services, etc., all contributing to a serious downward spiral and the end of the Encinitas we know and bought homes in. This plan is not good for Encinitas.

We plead with you to reconsider the effects of the proposed plan on our sector of the community. While leucadia, cardiff and olivenhain have been immune from the noise and traffic of home depot, kohls, grocery chains, low end stores and fast food businesses, we daily hear the emergency sirens and have to navigate the congestion caused by them. Building high density housing and walmart seals our fate as just another city...with the crime rate, overcrowding, noise and frustration that comes with it. Our small town appeal is being sacrificed. All the citizens of this community deserve the same benefits. Building on every inch of available land has never been and never will be a good idea.

I suspect the real reason the city planners are concentrating the bulk of the density increase to the El Camino Real corridor is to make just a few people angry along El Camino Real vs. making everybody angry throughout Encinitas. I went through the GP and I'm baffled by the marketing slogans and feel good words they are using to make us believe this is a great plan. Read page LU-73 and LU-74 and LU-99 to LU-101. LU stands for Land Use. This is where the heart of the matter is. I quote some of the words they are using: "The El Camino Real Commercial Corridor is envisioned as a vibrant, mixed use, walkable town center with a distinct town center look and feel for New Encinitas" or "High quality development and context-sensitive community design will help frame the street in a manner compatible with surrounding neighborhoods." Say what? Or I like the "Car dealership uses are to be protected." I guess they don't want to upset the tax revenue generators. The best quote: "The corridor should incorporate the history, traditions, object, and values of the community landmarks that will become cornerstones of El Camino Real's identity as an economic corridor that supports the arts, culture and thriving environments." What a load of c…. New Encinitas never had any identity, history or traditions. We are primarily a commercial corridor with dormitory residential areas on the side.

These are the words they are using to make us believe this a good plan. This is so that we don't pay attention to the fact they will zone the area to R-30 (30 units per acre) or even more with density bonus. They don't even have the honesty to tell us how many apartment units this would translate into. I hear up to 2,200 units. We could have another 4000 residents or more in a small area (222.3 acre to be exact). Welcome gridlock, pollution, noise, school overcrowding, crime.

Oh, and the funny thing is that they have been working on this for 2 years and the new Encinitas area was grossly underrepresented in the GPAC (advisory group).

New Encinitas: It is time to get organized. The plan is still up for discussion and nothing will be approved until the City Council votes on it.

Stay tuned for upcoming meetings the planning department will put together.

You can also attend the special City Council meeting this Wednesday (Oct. 26th.) where the 14 candidates for the vacant City Council position will be heard. This will be a key position in the fight against the ill-conceived general plan.

Read about the reasons why so many of us object to the proposed land re-zoning and redevelopment of El Camino Real:

visit our website at

www.NewEncinitasResidents.com.

The increase in housing units is very excessive and concentrated in one small area. This will disrupt the community, make traffic worse, and drive down property values, in addition to creating more noise. Why not look at smaller scale options in various locations rather than cramming everyone into one area?